Persuasion
Principles can’t be bought
They can be bent slightly
Will must be predestined
To do what you want
With soft influence
Acknowledgement
Assistance and support
Chess pieces
Know not their purpose
It’s not essential
The play remains
In the master’s mind
Obstacles nudged
Or better yet moved
By the opponent
Who believes the choice
Is his own
Belief is fundamental
Truth is easier to hide
When thus presented
Persuasion assumes posture
Of allowance
Until the strike
The prize awaits
You see the puppet
Provides the string
It continues as always
02001
A killing I think
You always
Think there needs to be a killing
A sentence needs to have a period
Before it’s complete
It needs to have a period
Because it’s complete
Yes that’s the point
A killing then?
Yes
But perhaps
More of a signature
I was thinking
A subtle breeze
Just a soft stroke?
Yes
Rain would be nice
God willing
(laughter)
02002
Editor’s cut 02002
Arbitrary murder is unseemly.
There’s little reward in the surrender
of a game piece for no advantage.
But the mortality of Dr. Allen Phepps
presented an unfortunate obstacle,
to an essential narrative better
served by his absence.
Therefore his death in the cold rain
was quite acceptable.
02002ec
Table for two
Reservation?
Sparks please?
Ah yes
The young lady's waiting for you
Right this way sir
Susan
Wow you look great!
It’s been a strange day
More than usual
I can relax now
Tonight is about you!
I’m hungry for you
But we should eat first
I’ll tell you about it later
Mr. Sparks, you have a call
You can take it in the lounge
Thank you
Hello?
You’re not listening Mr. Sparks
Do you think this is a joke?
We can’t protect you
If you refuse to help yourself
It’s very serious
Be precisely careful
What you say and to whom
She’s a lovely girl
In danger because of you
Well done
We can protect you both
But don’t be stupid
You have a decision to make
Choose incorrectly
We’ll protect someone else
Listen
Look up a man named Warbel
Dr. Jonathan Edward Warbel
He has precious facts you covet
Find him
Go see him
Don’t tarry
You said you wanted to know
This is your opportunity
That’s all for now
Tell her it was work
Enjoy your evening
We’ll be in touch
Hey love I’m back
No it’s fine
Just work
Always a reporter
Nature of the beast
Cost of freedom
Us now, ok?
02003
Peaceful easy feeling
Always a reporter?
How did they know
About the restaurant?
If they aren't NSA
Who are they?
Followed?
Violated!
Sometimes
Bowels of a story
Are uneasy
Warbel?
Time?
Pick it up in the morning
02004
Web search results
Science day magazine
Dr. Jonathan Edward Warbel
“Once brilliant now fallen”
Quakes the Geophysics world
Secrets of the universe
And those of the planet
Interdependent disciplines
Focus hypothesis
Sounds of a celestial body
Doppler positioning
Balance effects upon sound
Orbital predictions by sound
The Warbel Effect - law
Balance effects upon geophysics
Shifting of planetary axis
Magnetic flux and fields
Golden boy of the GGUI
Geodesy and Geophysics Union
International
Atmospheric Research Physicist
Warbel affect upon plate shift
Instrumental contributions
Center for systematic collection
International world data
Disaster predictions
Prevention studies and balance
This once monolith intellect
Became obsessed with Nostradamus
The occult and ‘moon babies’
Stripped of his fame
Reduced to obscurity
Self-interned
To a mental facility
Indefinitely
His early findings alone
Profoundly influence sciences
Of Geodesy, Geophysics
And Astronomy
“The Warbel Effect remains
While the man does not”
02005
Editor’s desk
Sparks places a post-it-note
on Joe Connor’s desk
with one word written on it
I think it’s a wrap
The ‘time thing’
The story’s done
Time to move on
Pardon the pun
Dr. Warbel’s another story
Tree falls in the forest
Cost of success
Brilliance gone mad
Lot going on there
I sense there’s more
It’s bigger than time
I’ll need time to tell it
(Pointing to the note
Which reads only
‘not’)
Go with God my son
Bring me some print
02006
Joe Connors never says copy
He always says print
He says when a story’s first
Let everyone else copy
02007
Intra-Care 1
Behavioral Health Center
Indefinite commitment annex
Yes, he’s here with us
Visitation is reserved for family
And those with explicit permission
He signed himself in
Quite some time ago
The rules Mr. Sparks
Dr. Warbel has agreed to see you
You’ll be the first in a long while
He’s quite intelligent
And most of the time coherent
Do not stress him
If he wants to talk he’ll talk
Wants you to return you may
I think it will do him good
To see someone
Nice to matter again
Some residents have a lot of friends
Some imaginary
Others
Well
They spend most time alone
Like this one
No one should be alone
Alone sucks
Maybe you’ll make a friend
02008
Jonathan Warbel visit 1
I’m crazy you know
Loonier than a loon
Nuttier than a fruitcake
In case they didn’t tell you
Or you didn’t get it
Of course
I’m not supposed to know
Because that would mean
I’m not crazy
How insane is that?
You said you wanted to know
About me, about my work?
And the Warbel Effect?
It’s a very long and twisted story
But there is much more to tell
If you have the time
All of it true
Some of it
Will sound insane
But that’s why we’re here
Isn’t it?
I’ll have to cut it back
Tone it down
Put it in layman’s terms
Lay it out simple
For you
I’ll tell you what it’s about
What it is
And finally, who’s behind it
Or at least who I believe
Well then
You can choose your jump off
Somewhere between fruit salad
And the punch bowl
02009
Warbel 101
My study was Astrophysics
Every physicist
Scientist for that matter
Wants his own discovery
His own thing
Mine was as simple as a tire
It receives a tiny amount of weight
In precise location as to balance it
Do you know why?
So it doesn’t wobble?
No!
So it doesn’t Warbel
It’s a joke son
Try to keep up
You spend your life in physics
Stumble across one idea
And another by accident really
Until you find one
No one else noticed
And so you groom it
Check and test it
Struggle to define it
Write about it
Suddenly you’re discovered
Ten seconds of glory
If you’re lucky
For something so minute
So infinitesimally stupid
That no one else thought
Or bothered with it
That’s how you become “known”
Brilliance and study
Only puts you in the neighborhood
A neighborhood of luck
Boyle, Watts, Ohm
The laws we live by
Do you have any idea
How many physicists stole
The same formula
For proportionality
And applied it to their own fame?
Science is study and discovery
It’s not creation
It’s all been done for us
Uh hmm
I’m ranting aren’t I?
It happens
You’re precisely right Mr. Sparks
The tire wobbles
And that wobble
Makes a certain sound
When the tire’s in balance
There’s much less sound
But there’s always sound
There is no perfect balance
Health, nutrition, life
It’s a myth, a grail
Sound is capriciously defined
As the reaction when waves of air
Encounter the human ear drum
Signals sent to the brain
So what is sound
When a dog hears it?
Or a whale?
That can be more accurately defined
As vibration
The wobbly tire vibrates
Vibrations are transmitted
Through the air or the ground
Picked up by the hooves
Of a deer
That bounds from the path
Or into it
They say the Warbel Effect
Is about sound
Space is cold and empty
Very limited air
Very little sound there
The tire still vibrates
Whether we hear it or not
As does the planet
As a function of balance
The matter is but to hear it
02010